Eastern Orthodox, continued...

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1996 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 646.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1995 "

Eastern Orthodox

world

218,350,000

3.76%

-

-

1996

The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1997 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 654.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996 "

Eastern Orthodox

world

50,000,000

-

-

-

1996

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 323-324.

"...Eastern Orthodoxy places greater emphasis on the role of monasticism and on the concomitant pursuit of mystical union with God than either Roman Catholicism or Protestant Christianity. However, with about 50 million practitioners worldwide, including about 3 million in the U.S., the Orthodox make up only a small fraction of the Christian population. The Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople later became known as Greek Orthodox and then as Serbian or Russian Orthodox as conversion spread northward... Modern branches include the Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Ukrainian, and Carpatho-Russian Orthodox, all of which have branches in the U.S. "

"Among Christians, there are 56 million Anglicans, 4 million Catholics (non-Roman)... 187 million Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, et al.), 347 million Protestants, and somewhat over a billion Roman Catholics. "

Eastern Orthodox

world

220,000,000

-

-

-

1997

1998 Catholic Almanac: Our Sunday Visitor: USA (1997); pg. 274.

"The Division of Archives and Statistics of the Eastern Othodox World Foundation reported a 1970 estimate of more than 200 million Orthodox Church members throughout the world. A contemporary estimate put the number close to 220 million. "

Eastern Orthodox

world

170,000,000

-

-

-

1997

Gallagher, Winifred. Working on God. New York: Random House (1999); pg. 108.

"...September 1997... Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the leader of the 170 million members of the Eastern Orthodox Church. "

"The 'Eastern Orthodox Church', with 227 million members, broke officially with the Catholic Church on July 1054... They call themselves the 'Holy Orthodox Church', or the "Orthodox Church of the East', and are called by others, 'Greek Orthodox', or 'Russian Orthodox'. "

"Eastern Orthodox Church... Constituent churches:... Autocephalic Churches: Church of Constantinople (sub: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America; American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese; Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA; Greek Orthodox Metropolitanate of Canada; Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada; Greek Orthodox Metropolitanate of Central America; Greek Orthodox Metropolitanate of South America; Church of Estonia); Church of Alexandria; Church of Antioch (sub: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New York and All North America); Church of Jerusalem; Church of Russia; Church of Georgia; Church of Serbia; Church of Rumania; Church of Bulgaria; Church of Cyprus; Church of Greece; Church of Albania; Church of Poland; Church of the Czech and Slovak Republics; Orthodox Church in America; Autonomous Churches: Church of Sinai; Church of Finland; Church of Japan; Church of Ukraine "

"The Orthodox population is the most numerous (80%), but it is not equally present in all regions of the country. Most of the Orthodox believers live in Central Serbia (over 90%). This population is above the Republic average in Belgrade (84%), and below the average in Montenegro (69%) and Vojvodina (58%), and particularly in Kosovo and Metohija. "

"The Orthodox population is the most numerous (80%), but it is not equally present in all regions of the country. Most of the Orthodox believers live in Central Serbia (over 90%). This population is above the Republic average in Belgrade (84%), and below the average in Montenegro (69%) and Vojvodina (58%), and particularly in Kosovo and Metohija. "

"The Orthodox population is the most numerous (80%), but it is not equally present in all regions of the country. Most of the Orthodox believers live in Central Serbia (over 90%). This population is above the Republic average in Belgrade (84%), and below the average in Montenegro (69%) and Vojvodina (58%), and particularly in Kosovo and Metohija. "

"The Orthodox population is the most numerous (80%), but it is not equally present in all regions of the country. Most of the Orthodox believers live in Central Serbia (over 90%). This population is above the Republic average in Belgrade (84%), and below the average in Montenegro (69%) and Vojvodina (58%), and particularly in Kosovo and Metohija. "

"Igor Volovodov, pastor of St. Apostles Peter and Paul United Methodist Church in Voronezh, Russia, said this week that... Though the vast majority of Russians align themselves with the Russian Orthodox Church, Volovodov says it's because 'of tradition, rather than belief. It's cultural rather than religious. Only about 4 percent of the people consider themselves Orthodox and go to church.' "

"Location: Greece; Population: Over 10 million; Religion: Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ "; "Over 97% of today's Greeks belong to the Orthodox Church... Religion plays a more important role in the lives of village residents than in those of urban dwellers, of whom only about one-fifth attend church on a weekly basis. Country life revolves around the local church and religions observances... "

Data taken from New Zealand national censuses, based on self-identification, down to denominational level. Total 1996 NZ population: 3,616,633. Listed in table as "Eastern Orthodox - not further defined "

Table: "Religious Groups, Members/Adherents, In Texas, 1990 "; pg. 7: Texas pop. (1990 U.S. census): 16,986,335; "Data based on reports from 133 church bodies. "; This figure is from MEMBERS column ( "Members " in this study includes only communicant, confirmed members with full membership status), not the more inclusive "adherents " column.

Table: "Religious Groups, Members/Adherents, In Texas, 1990 "; pg. 7: Texas pop. (1990 U.S. census): 16,986,335; "Data based on reports from 133 church bodies. "; This figure is from ADHERENT column ( "Adherents " defined as all members, incl. regular participants not considered as communicant.), not the more restrictive "member " column.

"Remnants of Jewish Christianity survived in various places in Palestine, Syria and Egypt until the 5th century. Its members clung to the original tenets of their faith, being characterized by their observance of the Mosaic Law, their belief that Jesus was of human origin, and their hostility to Paul. They are known only through the garbled and prejudiced accounts of orthodox Christian writers, who regarded them as heretics. They are named either as Ebionites or Nazarenes, and various strange beliefs and customs are ascribed to them; it is likely that some groups did adopt Gnostic ideas or held beliefs that stemmed from the Qumran Covenanters. "

"EBIONITES: an early CHRISTIAN HERESY referred to by IRENAEUS whose BELIEFS are obscure. They are thought to have been a poor JEWISH CHRISTIAN SECT which rejected PAULINE CHRISTIANITY and affirmed the Gospel of Matthew. "

"The theory that the Jerusalem Christians were called Ebionim has been further strengthened, but at the same time made more complicated, by the fact that the evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls seems to indicate that the Qumran community may also have called themselves Ebionim. This Qumranic use would, accordingly, suggest that 'Ebionim' was truly an honorific Jewish title current at the time of Christ, and that common usage of it may indicate some connection between the Qumran Covenanters and the original Christian community at Jerusalem. But, however that particular issue may be assessed, what is important ihere is that fact that, if the Jerusalem Christians were indeed known as Ebionim, the evidence of Irenaeus reveals a surprising situation: namely, that by the 2nd century these original Christians, or their immediate descendants, were regarded as heretics by an orthodox Church Father such as Irenaeus. "

"St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr: he was charged with blasphemy because, in contrast to the Ebionites who believed that Christianity was a perfected Judaism, he was hostile to the orthodox cult of the Jewish Temple. He was condemned to death and stoned. "

"The name 'Ebionites' was first used in the 2nd century by the Christian writer Irenaeus to describe a Christian heretical sect. This strange name may go back to the very beginnings of Christianity. Many scholars cite, in this connection, the Apostle Paul's statement in his Epistle to the Romans (chapter 15) about a financial contribution that had been organized in Greece 'for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem'. The reference here is clerely to members of the original Christian community at Jerusalem who were in need. It has, however, been suggested that the expression 'the poor' may not just denote a state of poverty, but rather be an honorific title assumed by the Jerusalem Christians... the 'poor', which in Hebrew speech would be the 'Ebionim', the Greek word 'Ebionites'... This conclusion means that, by the 2nd century,a sect of Christian heretics bore the same name as the original Jewish Christian community at Jerusalem. "

Ebionites

world

0

-

-

-

500 C.E.

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 386-387.

"Ebionites ('Poor Ones'): Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah but kept many of their Jewish practices and split with Paul over his dismissal of Mosaic law or Torah. They believed that Jesus was human but not divine, accepted only the Gospel of Matthew, and disappeared after the 5th century. "

"Another more detailed assessment for West Germany covering many more movements concludes that well over one million people are involved or 'influenced' by new religions, with a 'full-time' membership of 64,200. The estimated full time membership for 12 of these movements is: " [table]

"But within the metaphysical world [Twitchell] looms large indeed. With an estimated 500,000 followers worldwide, fifteen centers in the US and four overseas, and a weekly mailbag of some 10,000 letters... "

Eckankar

USA

-

-

-

-

1981

Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 320.

"The teachings of the Eckankar movement founded by Paul Twitchell are largely those of Radha Soami. "

"But within the metaphysical world [Twitchell] looms large indeed. With an estimated 500,000 followers worldwide, fifteen centers in the US and four overseas, and a weekly mailbag of some 10,000 letters... "

Eckankar

world

50,000

-

-

-

1982

Petersen, William J. Those Curious New Cults in the 80s. New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing (1982); pg. 286.

"Ever since Journalist Paul Twitchell developed Eckankar in 1964, it has been growing into a world-wide religion. Today it boasts of more than 3 million followers around the world; but actual membership may be closer to 50,000. "

Eckankar

world

3,000,000

-

-

-

1982

Petersen, William J. Those Curious New Cults in the 80s. New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing (1982); pg. 286.

"Ever since Journalist Paul Twitchell developed Eckankar in 1964, it has been growing into a world-wide religion. Today it boasts of more than 3 million followers around the world; but actual membership may be closer to 50,000. "

"ECKENKAR... founded in 1965 by Paul TRITCHELL (1908-1971) who popularized his ideas through his books The Tiger's Fang (1967), Eckenkar (1969)... In origin Eckenkar is an offshoot of Kirpal Singh's RUHANI SATSANG and the SELF REVELATION CHURCH and owes many of its ideas to the Indian SANT MAT tradition. "

According to Melton, as of 1996 there were 164 Eckankar centers in the United States and 367 worldwide, with members in more than 130 countries. The Center for Religious Tolerance cites that there are 50,000 members.

"Another group of people commonly found in the Pagan community is the Eco-Spiritualists. These are both women and men who have come to the Craft not through an identification with the occult, magic, or matriarchy, but because they feel an intimate connection to the Earth. This connection is so strong that they feel it as sacred and have sought connections between this feeling and their religion... "

We are always striving to increase the accuracy and usefulness of our website. We are happy to hear from you. Please submit questions, suggestions, comments, corrections, etc. to: webmaster@adherents.com.